Simon Teece

Mixing and Mastering Engineer

I am a British mixing and mastering engineer specializing in classical and instrumental music. I was trained by an Abbey Road legend and I carry that same high standard through into my own work.

Hi I'm Simon. I'm a mixing and mastering engineer originally from England, now living in America. I trained at Leeds College of Music, one of Europe's leading institutes for training in audio engineering and music production. I also spent twelve months training one on one with Paul Baily, a fifteen year veteran of London's legendary Abbey Road Studios and one of the worlds best classical engineers. I've worked with a variety of artists in Britain but lean more towards classical and instrumental music and I've spent a lot of time mixing live recordings. I previously operated a studio centered mainly on analogue equipment from giants like SSL, NEVE, Teletronix and Manley Labs but I'm currently offering digital services while I build my new studio in America and as such I am charging significantly reduced rates at this time. The advantage this offers perspective clients is that they can get world class mixing and mastering, from an engineer trained to the high standards of Abbey Road Studios, without the associated costs.

I'd love to hear about your project. Click the 'Contact' button above to get in touch.

Credits

1 Reviews

Simon recently completed the mixing of a solo piano track for my CD that is being released next year, and I am extremely happy with the results. His high level of expertise has turned the raw recording into a track that sounds balanced, full of warmth, tone and character. I was able to tell Simon exactly what I wanted and very quickly he was able to produce the desired result. All this, along with his professionalism and friendliness throughout the project means I would 100% recommend Simon.

Interview with Simon Teece

Q: What do you like most about your job?

A: I like taking a recording, whether it's from a session in a world class recording studio or a rough live cut, and turning it into a finished track.

Q: Tell us about a project you worked on you are especially proud of and why. What was your role?

A: One of the projects that I'm most proud of was mixing a live recording for a British band called Cohesion. The recording was limited, just a hand full of stems taken straight out of the live board and I was tasked with taking these rough recordings and turning them into a finished product. In the end the band was extremely happy with the result, commenting that the tracks sounded better than their studio recordings. This was a proud moment for me, I love it when you can help a band or musician achieve the final sound they're looking for.

Q: What are you working on at the moment?

A: At the moment I'm working on mastering a collection of recordings for an ambient musician. The original recordings were never professionally mixed and the stems have since been lost so I'm working to bring a richer, more even tone to the tracks.

Q: Analog or digital and why?

A: I prefer to work in analogue formats as much as possible. There's a warmth and character that you get from analogue that's just so hard to find in digital media. These days we spend so long trying to recapture that quality and tone that I'd rather just work straight with the original. Don't get me wrong, digital has it's value but I always choose analogue if I can.

Q: What's your 'promise' to your clients?

A: To work with them so that they can achieve their desired sound. A mix is about helping the musician get to where they want to be, not about stamping your sound on something.

Q: What's the biggest misconception about what you do?

A: People sometimes think that mixing is easy. There are so many presets and quick fixes you can use now that sometimes you'll find that people think anyone can do this but that's just not true. Sure anyone can balance faders, throw on some plug-ins and open up presets but that doesn't get you a good mix. Truly great mix engineers know how to take what's there and make it shine or help repair something that's not good enough and this takes talent and experience.

Q: What questions do you ask prospective clients?

A: What sort of sound are they looking for? Did they have any particular artist or track that inspired their recordings.

Q: What advice do you have for a customer looking to hire a provider like you?

A: Make sure you know what you're looking for and then just ask for it. It's best that everybody be clear on where you're trying to go from the beginning.

Q: What was your career path? How long have you been doing this?

A: I've been doing this for well over a decade. Emigrating to another country slowed down the flow of work for a while but I've been mixing for a long time.

Q: How would you describe your style?

A: Warm, rich and dynamic.

Q: Which artist would you like to work with and why?

A: I'd love to work with Olafur Arnalds. I think Olafur composes such beautifully delicate music and I'd love to work on one of his records.

Q: What's your strongest skill?

A: I think my strongest skill is my ability to work quickly and still achieve a great result. I can work quickly without sacrificing tonal quality.

Q: What do you bring to a song?

A: I always try and bring a rich tone to a song. Each track is different but a rich, natural and warm tone is always a great thing to bring to a song.

Q: What's your typical work process?

A: Typically when I start a mix I'll throw up the faders and just get a general feel for the track. Then I'll start working on pulling things down into groups so I can begin to balance out the song. Then I'll dive into all the little details that really set a mix apart. I try and work quickly, never lingering too long on one thing. I try and make a solid decision and work from there.

Q: What other musicians or music production professionals inspire you?

A: Bill Putnam Sr, Tony Maserati and Jack Joseph Puig have all had a major impact on how I think about sound and mixing.

Q: Can you share one music production tip?

A: I love to use compression, used delicately it's the most musical tool a mix engineer has at their disposal. One of my favourite things to do is break down frequency bands and compress them separately, it works so much better than just putting a multi-band compressor on a channel. You can really delve into much richer tones when you chain different equipment together and it works brilliantly on drums and bass guitars.

Q: What type of music do you usually work on?

A: More often than not I've found myself working on classical and instrumental music but I've worked on a variety of other styles like soulful singer songwriters and rock.

Q: Tell us about your studio setup.

A: At the moment I'm building a new studio having moved to America from England so I'm short on equipment right now and I'm mainly focusing on digital services. My studio currently revolves around Pro Tools and emulations from Universal Audio.

Q: Describe the most common type of work you do for your clients.

A: The most common work that I've done for clients in the parts has been mixing tracks recorded by other engineers. I've especially found myself mixing live recordings. I love taking a musicians live performances and giving them a well balanced final mix.